MY 53 DAYS OF FOCUS

THIS was in 2006. It was at the annual convention of the International Central Gospel Church, Destiny Summit, held under the leadership of Pastor Mensa Otabil. One of the guest ministers, Randy Morrison, who is a regular at this conference, preached a message on the subject of “Focus.”

After Morrison handed over the microphone, conference host Otabil stepped up and instructed that each one of us should write down one thing we looked forward to accomplishing by the end of that year. We did a quick calculation and computed that December 31 was 53 days away. I took my pen and note book and scribbled with faith, “In the next 53 days, I will release Winning with Confidence.”

From that moment on, my prayer, my conversations, my thoughts, my dreams and fantasies were all beamed on Winning with Confidence. Winning with Confidence was a script that I had put together to publish as my first book. This was when I was an undergrad at Ghana’s premier university at Legon in Accra. I had no money. Not much influence. No audience ready to read my book. I could not distinguish my left from my right in the field of publishing. I was a confused rookie.

But from that night, I decided to focus on what I had and what I could do. I had written a script. At least I had few friends I could talk to about what I had done and what was left to be done. I could pray for God to spring a miracle to fill the gaps I couldn’t fill.

Somehow, things worked together and by November 26 that year, I was ready to launch my first book. And actually, I launched it on December 13, 2006 while I was still a student in pursuit of my first degree.

That was how I discovered the amazing power of focus. Focus is a force that pools people and resources together to produce the dreams we nurture in our hearts in our lives. If you focus on something, you will be drawn towards it. If you focus on something you desire, it will be drawn towards you.

Focus is a magnetic force that brings your dreams together. It keeps your principles in place. What you don’t focus on, you lose. What you ignore ignores you. Don’t look away and expect that you will get somewhere. It is absolutely critical that we keep our attention on the things that matter to us.

If you want things to happen in your life, don’t focus on what you don’t have. Focus on what you need and you will discover how to use what you have to generate what you need.

To focus effectively in your life, 

1. Have a dream. If you don’t know what you want to achieve, you cannot focus on something. In my case, I knew I wanted to be an incisive and inspiring author.                                                                                                                                                                                        
2. Identify the resources you require. You must have a fair idea of what it will take to accomplish your dream. To become an author, I knew I had to write, I needed to build a brand that would appeal to people, I needed money to finance my publications and so on.                                                                                                                                                            
3. Know the resources you have at your disposal. Certainly, you will not have all the resources you require. But surely you will have some. Identify what you have and make a commitment to use what you have to do what it can do. In my journey, I didn’t have money but I had concepts I wanted to project with my writings so I began writing. I didn’t have a name out there but I started talking to my circle of friends. And now, here I am. And here you are reading me.                                                                                                                                     
4. Don’t stop working until you get there. When you start, you will see yourself moving. You will see yourself getting closer to the destination. Remember that being close is not the same as being there. Keep looking at the goal and keep working. Although I have produced a few more books since the first one and written several articles for newspapers, magazines and online portals, I know I haven’t reached there yet. That’s why I keep working.

It doesn’t matter how far away you are from where you want to get to. If you keep your eye on the ball, you will get things together and you will get there eventually.

© 2014 Terry Mante

CEO, Personal Development Network

Accra, Ghana

Cell: +233.267.186.420

PRIORITIES

EVERYDAY, when you wake up there will be different things and people that will compete for space on your agenda. There will be obligations (such as work, family, school), emergency situations (such as impromptu sickness) and scheduled activities that you may have to deal with.

From personal experience and listening to people daily, I realize that we are not able to attend to all the things that fall on our plates daily. This is because of limitations we all have as human beings. No matter what happens, there are only 24 hours each day. We can only do so much within that period. Apart from the limitation of time, we also have limitations with resources such as knowledge, experience and money. We don’t always have answers to everything that confronts us.

How then, do we navigate our way through such situations? I am of the view that if we learn to set priorities we shall make a head way in this regard.

Setting priorities enables you to apportion your resources efficiently. You can’t have an effective life if you don’t establish your priorities. Knowing your priorities helps you to know what you must admit onto your schedule immediately, what you must put on the back burner and what you must out rightly reject. This will ensure that you always commit resources only to that which will be beneficial to you.

TWO TYPES OF PRIORITIES

1. Permanent priorities: In our lives, there are priorities that are never expected to change. These are what I call permanent priorities. Personally, I can tell you that my faith life is of utmost importance to me and it will continue to occupy the top spot on my list of priorities. My family life is another aspect of me that will always be important. Each one of us has lifetime priorities. They are based on our values and aspirations. Have you identified yours?                                                                                                                                                                             
2. Prevailing priorities: Prevailing priorities are those that are important at a particular season of one’s life. Sometimes, these prevailing priorities seem to push the permanent priorities to the periphery of our lives. For instance, sometimes while addressing an audience or sitting in a meeting, my cell phone vibrates to prompt me of a call from a close family member. At that time, I cannot put the presentation or meeting on hold to receive the call due to the sensitivity of the meeting. This is one typical situation where prevailing priority (meeting) interferes with lifetime priority (staying in touch with family). Needless to say, in such a situation I would have to ignore the call and revert as soon as I am in a position to.

                                   

The wisdom in making such a distinction grants you the ability to use the pursuit of your prevailing priorities to undergird your permanent priorities. The key here is to identify where each item falls and putting in place a system to manage them.

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR PRIORITIES

1. Identify your roles: Know your obligations. List your required tasks. All of us play various roles in different aspects of our lives. Perhaps you may have roles as an employee/employer, student, husband/wife, parent, church member or member of you’re the PTA executive committee of your school. Be conscious.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
2.  Have a plan: Plan for all your roles. Keep a to-do list. Plan your activities weekly and daily. Make sure you plan for each day before the day begins. Planning your day in advance keeps you focused on what is important. When planning, pay attention to tasks that are likely to yield maximum results at the end of the day. Bear in mind the Pareto Principle; “20% of activities produce 80% of results.” Planning helps you to know what to do during the day when you wake from bed. It simplifies your life.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
3.  Be flexible: Even though you may plan, things will not always go as planned. There will always be circumstances beyond your control that could dislodge your plans. That is why in your plans, you must make provision for such eventualities. Always reserve some amount of time for unplanned activities. Have a budget for contingencies. Master the art of team work and delegation. Be ready to think on your feet.

Two quotes from legendary life coach Stephen Covey (1932 - 2012): “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities”; “You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside.”  

I tell you this; you can have the kind of life you desire if you learn to establish your priorities and focus your attention on them. Don’t just wish for a good life. Establish objective priorities and let them drive your choices and actions.

© 2014 Terry Mante

CEO, Personal Development Network

Accra, Ghana

Call +233.267.186.420 to book a coaching appointment with Terry Mante

NEW YEAR SUCCESS: YOUR GOALS

THE dawn of every New Year presents us with opportunity to take stock of our lives. Taking stock helps us to identify where we have come from, where we are and where we are going. For a lot of people, a New Year is an opportunity to dream new dreams, embrace new ideas and achieve greater goals. Success in the New Year will be determined by the extent to which we achieve the goals we set for ourselves.

But a University of Scranton research suggests that only 8% of people achieve their New Year’s goals. Having goals, therefore, does not guarantee success in the New Year. But it does not also mean that goals are not important because in this same research, it emerged that “People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.” If that is the case, then I guess it makes sense to position ourselves among the likely successful.

But to be among the 8% who achieve their goals, there are some guidelines to consider.

1. Be clear: Goals that are vague will remain in the cloud. They will never reach the realm of reality. So instead of saying you want to lose weight, say “I want to lose 20 pounds.” Don’t just say “I will go to school.” Say, “I will pursue a post-graduate diploma in Marketing.” Instead of saying “I want to make more money,” it will be much clearer to say “I look forward to increasing my monthly income by 25%.” Goals must be clear. When they are clear, they are reachable. You can’t reach something you are not clear about.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
2. Write them down: You can’t keep your goals in your head and expect them to descend into your hand. Goals that are not written down easily give way for tasks and issues that compete for attention. If you want to bring your goals to life, write them down. Writing gives you a point of reference.                                                                                                                                                          
3. Don’t set too many goals: Setting too many goals diversifies your focus and disperses your resources. Remember, the reason you set goals is to have something to achieve. You don’t set goals to earn bragging rights among your colleagues. Goals are meant to give your life a focus and something to hold on to at the end of the day. In setting goals therefore, you must endeavour to have few that you have the capacity to pursue and grasp within a stipulated period.                                                                                                                                                                   
4. Break them down: Don’t let your goal scare you because they are humongous. You can break them down into small task to be executed daily, weekly and monthly. By the time you connect the dots at the end of the year, you might see yourself at your destination.                                                                                                                                                                                             
5. Persevere: Any goal that does not have an obstacle is suspicious. In due course, you will encounter some obstacles in the pursuit of your goals. But that does not mean you should abandon them. Hold fast to your dream even when there are enormous challenges. You can only defeat the obstacles if you keep your conviction intact.

TOP 10 NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS FOR 2014

The Scranton University research collated the following as the ten most popular resolutions for 2014

1.  Lose weight
2.  Get organized
3. Spend less, save more
4. Enjoy life to the fullest
5. Stay fit and healthy
6. Learn something exciting
7. Quit smoking
8. Help others in their dreams
9. Fall in love
10. Spend more time with family

What are your own goals? Have you written them down? How simple are they? Have they been broken down? Do you believe in them enough to persevere?

© 2014 by Terry Mante

CEO, Personal Development Network (PEDNET)

Accra, Ghana